Description
In a mist-struck Victorian parish, a young narrator - new to town, late for a dinner, and desperate to appease a stern mother - chooses a forbidden shortcut through Blackbriar Wood. The villagers whisper of the cursed forest: offerings at the verge, church bells at dusk, old laws older than scripture. Sceptical, city-bred, and clutching a beloved bookshop find, the narrator steps beneath a canopy where silence feels deliberate and the air carries the iron scent of old stories. What follows is a slow-burn descent into folklore and cosmic dread: a haunted wood, eldritch hush, and a parish whose piety keeps pace with its fear. A Gothic tale of atmosphere over spectacle - Victorian chills, creeping unease, parish superstition, and the unnerving courtesy of a forest that may not be empty. Perfect for readers of dark academia, folk horror, and cosmic horror who crave candlelit prose, uncanny landscapes, and the steady tightening of fate.
The Rootward Calling
